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French Police Say They Averted 2nd Attack; Hollande Trying to Bring International Pressure against ISIS; Putin: Jet Downing "A Stab in the Back"; Pope to Visit Kenya, Uganda, Central African Republic; Anger, Frustration after Chicago Police Release Video of White Officer Shooting Black Teen; Brussels Returning to Normal After Terror Scare; France Mourns as Lays to Rest Victims of Attacks; Obama, NATO Back Turkey after Downing Russian Warplane. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 25, 2015 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[02:00:11] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: French officials say terrorists had more plots in the works. We'll take you live to Paris.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Bracing for blow back after Turkey shoots down a Russian war plane.

BARNETT: And Chicago reacts in protests to newly released video of a white police officer shooting a black teen some 16 times.

CHURCH: Also coming up, Pope Francis heads to Kenya. We will take you live to Nairobi ahead of his arrival.

I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We start in Paris for you this hour. And chilling news about a second wave of terror attacks that was narrowly averted exactly one week ago. Authorities now say two men were plotting to pull off the suicide attack in the city's financial district. Police raided their apartment, possibly hours before the attack. Both men, including ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, were killed in the raid.

CHURCH: Meantime, French President Hollande is trying to bring international pressure against ISIS. Tuesday, he was at the White House meeting with President Barack Obama. In the coming hours, he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and on Thursday, he will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

There is much more coming out of Paris.

Max Foster joins us now live from the French capital.

Hi there, Max.

Three significant developments to cover here. The manhunt now includes a new suspect who has been identified. We're also learning that the ringleader of the Paris attacks planned a second attack in the financial district of the French capital. And now concerns of Islamist radicalization of airport and other transport workers in France. Bring us up to date on those developments and, of course, how people in France are reacting to the news.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Well, most frightening was that news from the Paris prosecutor that the ringleader of the Paris attacks was planning another attack. Possibly hours from the moment where they raided apartments back on that Wednesday. So the security services haven't given us any information about why they think a plot was eminent. They just gave us that information that he was planning something against the financial district which might help explain why there were explosives in the apartment. They were possibly very close to going off, another attack. So a great success there for the French security services.

And in terms of the wider follow-up on this, as you say, French security sources told CNN that for a couple of years, they've been monitoring the radicalization of transport workers in and around Paris. So those working on buses, on trains, but also up at the airport. They haven't terminated any contracts, fired anyone over this. What they have done, for example, at Charles de Gaulle, you need authorization to get onto the runway and those have been taken away from 10 people who they think have been radicalized too much. So not a major concern there, but certainly an indication of the sort of things they're now having to look at and which authorities in the U.S. and around the world are looking at, as well, when they consider their own preparations for thwarting terror attacks in future.

CHURCH: And, Max, the French president next meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. What is expected out of those discussions in Paris?

FOSTER: Well, initially, the focus of that discussion was looking for support for his plans for a grand coalition. But we saw yesterday in Washington a stumbling block there. Basically, Obama saying he can't work with the Russians as long as they are attacking non-ISIS targets in Syria. So Hollande reached a stumbling block there. The focus on the Merkel meeting was meant to be something that Obama referred to yesterday, as well, which was European countries working more closely together and sharing information and intelligence in the aftermath of attacks and in the lead up to potential attacks, as well. We've seen how the past attackers took advantage of broken up security services. So better coordination of that possibly creating a pan European intelligence agency. But the mechanics of making that happen are intense. I think now, as well, with Hollande going on to meet President Putin in Moscow on Thursday, which is a long planned meeting, that meeting between Hollande and Merkel will be focused on that, as well. And Merkel, Germany, very close to the Russians economically speaking. They do have some sway there. So what sort of conversations will be had in Russia in relation to that downed airplane over Syria? Thus turning that into a major incident and Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande are send ago key message to the community. That will be what we're looking out for -- Rosemary?

[02:05:32] CHURCH: Some tough discussions ahead there.

Max Foster, reporting in Paris, it's just after 8:00 in the morning and we will check back in with you in about half an hour from now. Many thanks.

BARNETT: Fears of a broader conflict stemming from the Syrian civil war are intensifying with the downing of a Russian warplane.

CHURCH: Turkey says the plane ignored repeated warnings not to enter Turkish air space and it was shot down near the Turkish Syrian border. These images reportedly showed the wreckage. Moscow insisted the jet never left Syrian air space.

BARNETT: Russian President Vladimir Putin called this a "stab in the back" and said it will have serious consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): In any case, neither our pilot nor our plane posed any threat to the Turkish Republic. This was obvious. They were conduct an operation fighting ISIS

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: For more on this, our Ben Wedeman joins us now from northern Iraq.

Ben, it was roughly 24 hours ago when we broke the news of this jet being shot down. Since then, there are differing stories, but some details have emerged. What was the sequence of events before the Russian jet was shot down and after?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand as this Russian war plane was approaching or near the Turkish Syrian border, as we have been reporting within the space of five minutes, the Turks warned them ten times not to enter the Turkish air space and the Russian plane was only inside Turkish air space for 17 seconds. But that was enough for the Turkish pilots to decide that it was time to take down that airplane. Now, the fate of the pilots, we understand that the Russians conceded one of those pilots was killed and we've heard accounts from Syrian rebels that one of the pilots, as he was descending to earth in a parachute, he was shot dead by them. The fate of the second pilot remains unknown. So different versions of events, but what is very clear is that Turkish Russian relations, which were already in a rough patch seem to be crashing to the ground at the moment. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, was scheduled to visit Turkey today. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have been going to Turkey for years. It's a very popular tourist destination and there's a huge amount of trade between Russia and Turkey, as well. That could all be in jeopardy as this crisis goes on.

BARNETT: And the geography is key. Talk to me about the Turkman minority living in northern Syria near where this Russian plane was shot down. Turkey very defensive of this minority, but it's just one piece of a very complicated civil war puzzle there in Syria.

WEDEMAN: Indeed. This is a Turkish speaking minority that lives near in Latakia Province near the Turkish border. It dates back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey has long said that it was special responsibility for these people and in recent weeks much of the focus or part of the focus of the Russian offensive in Syria has been in that area in particular. A few days ago, the Turks protested to Russia about military activity in that particular area and, certainly, this is a part and parcel of what is a very complicated patchwork of interests of Turkey within Syria itself. Keep in mind that they share in 822 borders between Syria and Turkey. That is a border where it's many -- have said Turkey has allowed it to be too porous that, for instance, we heard the Russian president, Mr. Putin, saying that Turkey is in a sense an associate of ISIS because of the widespread suspicions that Turkey has, indeed, turned a blind eye when it comes to people crossing that border from Turkey to go and fight in the ranks of ISIS and Syria -- Errol?

[02:10:18] BARNETT: Our Ben Wedeman in northern Iraq for us. 10 minutes past 10:00 there.

Ben, we'll connect with you next hour and talk about what some of the consequences to all of this just might be. Thanks very much.

Still to come this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll bring you reaction in Turkey to this confrontation from Russia.

CHURCH: Plus, protests in the streets of Chicago after police released disturbing video of the shooting death of a black teenager. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley, with your CNN "World Sport" headlines.

We start with the Champion's League Group G Chelsea took on Tel Aviv on Tuesday. This would give much needed confidence boost for the Blues. He strolled to a 4-0 away victory. Cahill opened the scoring. The game was made safe by another Brazilian. To stay in the Champion's League, Arsenal needed a win and a win by fire. They got both. Gunners facing North London, the Premier League side making it look easy. Can Chez put Arsenal 2-0 up. 3-0, it would end at the Emirates stadium. Barcelona put bitter rivals Real Madrid on Tuesday and they were at it again, thrashing Italian giants Roma to confirm their spot. Barca the winner, 6-1. 6-1 to Barca, the final score there.

And that is a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Outrage in Chicago after police released video showing a white officer shooting a black teenager.

BARNETT: And that outrage is understandable. We want to warn you what you're about to see is disturbing.

In dash cam video, Laquan McDonald is seen running towards a police car. The 17-year-old was seen carrying a knife. The teen walks away from two police officers who have their guns drawn.

[02:15:07] CHURCH: Seconds later, after officer opens fire and McDonald falls to the ground. The teen was shot 16 times. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, is charged with first degree murder.

BARNETT: Protesters took to the streets following the video's release. About an hour ago, they blocked a major interstate with the city for about 20 minutes. Demonstrators have been peaceful for the most part.

CHURCH: And we will have more on the investigation later this hour, including why it took so long to release that video.

BARNETT: But right now, we want to talk about this. Tunisia has declared a state of emergency after a blast in the capital city, Tunis.

CHURCH: At least 15 people were killed. Police are now investigating the incident as a terror attack.

BARNETT: Turkey has no apologies for the downing of a Russian jet on its border with Syria. Turkey says the plane was shot down because it didn't answer warnings about violating air space.

CHURCH: Moscow has insisted the plane remained in Syrian air space. President Recep Tayyip Erodgan says the incident does not indicate animosity towards any country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERODGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translation): It is Turkey's cool approach that has prevented similar incidents up to now. People should have no doubt that Turkey has been responsible and calm. However, everyone has to respect Turkey when it comes to Turkey's right to protect its boarders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: For more on the Turkish perspective, we are joined by Mustafa Akyol, a columnist for al Monitor, a media site that focuses on issues in the Middle East.

Thank you, sir, for talking with us.

So the downing of the Russian war plane by Turkey has, of course, escalated tensions. What has been the reaction in Turkey to the shooting down of that plane?

MUSTAFA AKYOL, COLUMNIST, AL MONITOR (voice-over): Well, with Turkey, some people blame the government for initiating trouble with Russia. Not a lot of people support the cover of them for defending the boarders. The government had a change in the rule of engagement and they were -- in the Assad regime. Coming into Turkey and any war plane will be shot. And we've just obeyed by our rules of engagement. And in the initial statement from the chief of staff was Turkey didn't know the nationality of the plane. So it's just Turkey playing by the rules. Warned the plane several times and still violating the Turkish air space. So a lot of people support this, but some people are worried. The tourism industry is worried because Russia canceled -- started canceling a lot of trips to Turkey, Russian citizens, and that is for the Turkish tourism industry.

CHURCH: And worth mentioning, of course, that Russia insists that this plane actually stayed in Syrian air space. That is still in dispute. But Russia's president Putin says there will be serious consequences as a result of the downing of this Russian plane. What do most Turkish people think that means?

AKYOL: Well, of course, it's disputed. Russia says the plane was not in Turkish air space. NATO general secretary supported Turkey and all that. And I personally don't think Turkey would -- a plane in air space. What would be the consequences? Turkey is a NATO member, so NATO is behind Turkey and that's very important here. So nobody should expect the military escalation of the situation. No country wants that. But Turkey, it has other issues with Russia and there might be consequences there. Turkey buys gas from Russia, natural gas. But, again, the tourism industry may be hurt and other forms of cooperation between Turkey and Russia will have consequences. Russian foreign minister was going to Turkey. He canceled that trip. There might be economic consequences. We do keep our boarders, we play by our rules and nobody has to -- has the right to defy our rules of engagement and our air space.

[02:20:04] CHURCH: All right. Mustafa Akyol bringing us reaction to the downing of this Russian war plane. Many thanks to you.

BARNETT: Now, as we speak, Pope Francis is on his way to the African continent for his first visit there as Roman Catholic leader. Coming up next, a live report on what we can expect from his trip.

CHURCH: And we'll have more on the anger and frustration in Chicago after police release video of a white officer shoot ago black teen more than a year after it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Just last hour, Pope Francis left Rome on a historic trip to the African continent.

CHURCH: It is the pope's 11th trip, but his first papal first to the African continent. His three-country tour will include stops in Uganda, Kenya and the Central African Republic. Many Catholics in Africa are hoping for a message of peace and tolerance.

BARNETT: CNN's Robyn Kriel joins us live from Nairobi, Kenya, the pope's first stop with the latest on his trip.

Robyn, now that the pope is in the air, what shall we all expect once he lands there? What is the plan for the next few days?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Errol, it's excitement. Catholicism is growing hugely on the continent simply because of population figures. It's grown more than 200 percent since the 80s. So hugely important part of the pope's Catholicism and the importance of Africa to the Vatican in general.

What we can expect, as you said, messages of peace and tolerance. That will be especially pervasive because of the attacks in Paris and the various attacks we've seen across the world and especially here in Africa. So he is due to talk about religious cohesion and interreligious dialogue to converse with some Muslims in Kenya as well as other interreligious leaders. He's going visit a mosque in CAR (ph). Also, Pope Francis has been a huge advocate for the poor. He'll be visiting a slum here in Nairobi and that is something that a lot of people are really hoping that the Catholic Church will put to the forefront of its agenda under Pope Francis. Other messages, possibly touch on LGBT issues. We're not sure if he'll go there. Obviously in Uganda, there are anti-homosexual bills and a lot of people hoping that the pope will continue with his merciful message as he has done in the past. As he said, who am I to judge? So a number of different issues he'll be touching upon. Also, the issue of Refugees. Africa makes up a vast number of refugees crossing into Europe. He'll be visiting a refugee camp. And those are some of the things we expect him to address.

[02:25:54] BARNETT: So much on his agenda, lots to get to once he lands.

We'll connect with you over the next few hours to see how anticipation builds. Robyn Kriel, live for us in Nairobi this morning, thanks.

CHURCH: A Chicago officer is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a teen. Coming up, why it took police more than a year to release the dash cam video. We will hear from a legal analyst.

BARNETT: Plus, Belgium takes a small step towards returning to go normal. A live report from Brussels, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:14] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and welcome back to those of you watching from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. Let's update you on our top stories right now.

First, to Paris where police are looking into Islamist radicalization among the city's transit workers. It involves workers at both major Paris airports and the city's bus and rail services. A source familiar with the investigation says monitoring of Islamic transport workers has been going on for a couple of years. CHURCH: Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Turkish downing of

a Russian war plane is a stab in the back that will have serious consequences. Turkey says the plane ignored a series of warnings and was shot down after violating Turkish air space. Moscow insists the jet remained over Syria.

BARNETT: Tunisia has declared a state of emergency after an explosion rocked a bus carrying members of the president's guard in Tunis. At least 15 people were killed. A curfew is now in place in the Tunisian capital and authorities are investigating the event as a terror attack.

CHURCH: We turn now to anger and frustration in Chicago after police release a video showing the shooting death of a black teenager by a white officer.

BARNETT: And we have to give you a warning here. As you might expect, the video is very disturbing.

In this dash cam video, Laquan McDonald is seen running toward a patrol car. The authorities say the 17-year-old was carry ago knife.

CHURCH: The teen walks away from two police officers who have their guns drawn. Seconds later, an officer opens fire and McDonald falls to the ground. The teen was shot 16 times.

BARNETT: In the video, you can see a number of those shots were while the teen was still on the ground.

A judge ordered police to release that video. The officer, Jason Van Dyke is charged now with first-degree murder. He turned himself into authorities Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA ALVAREZ, COOK COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY: With these charges, we are bringing a full measure of justice that this demands. To be clear, the judge's order that the city of Chicago must release the video by November 25th certainly moved up the timing of our announcement, but it did not in any way dictate our decision to charge this defendant with first-degree murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Demonstrators marched through streets following the video's release. And at one point, protesters blocked a major interstate in the city for about 20 minutes. The demonstrations have been peaceful for the most part.

BARNETT: Paul Callan joins me from New York to talk about this. He's a CNN legal analyst and senior trial council, a criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor.

Paul, you and I just sat and watched the two minutes of the footage. It's very disturbing. How unusual is it that it took more than a year for the Chicago police department to release this video to the public? PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's extraordinarily disturbing

video. And I'm shocked, frankly, at the amount of time it took Chicago law enforcement authorities to release this tape. And I'm also surprised at how long it took for them to decide what charges to be filed in this case. They only announced earlier today, really, that this was going to be a first-degree murder case against the officer. So, you know, I think it's very, very unusual that it would be this long a delay.

BARNETT: And you have concern currently over how people in Chicago will react. There's anger and frustration. It's understandable when you see the video, but doesn't something like this also make the case for dash cams and body cams and police departments all over the country so that there is no question?

CALLAN: Well, it certainly does make the case, but ironically, it suggests that even when you have cameras in place, justice does not necessarily occur swiftly. I mean, I watched this tape with you, Errol, and it looks pretty simple. You know, the man was down on the ground, shots fired into him. I shouldn't say man. He was only 17 years old. He wasn't threatening the officer when the shots were fired, the final shots were fired. So that's not a complex fact pattern. So for it to take this long to reach a decision about whether a crime had been committed and what specifically to charge is certainly surprising.

BARNETT: And this incident took place last year. Since then, we've seen multiple eyewitness videos, body cams, dash cam videos of police using excessive force when it comes to unarmed black men specifically. I'm just wondering, amid this national conversation and a debate, because you have people divided over this, could this incident in this video be a kind of turning point for those who are so quick to defend the police no matter what?

And we should make the point that the officer charged here, Officer Jason Van Dyke, was the only one to discharge his weapon. So it underscores that one single bad apple can ruin the perception of police officers everywhere.

[02:35:18] CALLAN: Well, this has been an enormous controversy in the United States, particularly in the African-American community about the excessive use of force by police officers. But in fairness to the police, many of the cases, like the famous Ferguson case, a grand jury found that that police officer actually acted in self- defense. Now, there have been other cases where the cops acted improperly and sometimes were not indicted, sometimes were indicted. But this case, I think will stir enormous controversy. African- Americans will have to say why does it take so long for there to be justice in a case where the facts seem so clear? Perhaps the prosecutor will have some explanation as to why it took so long to resolve this matter, at least in terms of deciding what to charge. Remember, a trial has to follow.

The other thing I would add is one reason why they cases too take a long time is prosecutors are trying to determine what is the appropriate charge. Should it be first-degree murder, should it be something less like man slaughter because the officer was acting under some sort of emotional distress when he fired the shots as opposed to a planned intentional murder.

BARNETT: We appreciate you joining us with your personal insight. Paul Callan, our CNN legal analyst. Thanks for joining us.

CALLAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: The mayor of Chicago is calling for peace in the city. He condemned the officer's actions and said the release of the video can be a moment to build bridges of understanding rather than a barrier of misunderstanding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHM EMANUEL, (D), CHICAGO MAYOR: We need, as a city, to get to a point where young men in our community and in parts of our city see an officer and don't just see an officer with a uniform and a badge, but they see him as a partner in helping reach their full potential and they see in that officer a mentor, a little league coach, a leader in the church and in their community which they are. But we also have to get to a place as a city where officers who patrol communities in our city see a young man not as a potential problem and a risk, but they also see in that young man as an individual who is worthy of their protection and their potential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Elsewhere in the U.S., authorities in Minneapolis have three men in custody linked to a shooting near a Black Lives Matter protest on Monday.

CHURCH: That shooting left five people with nonlife threatening injuries and police say they are still looking for other suspects. A witness describes the moment shots rang out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: It doesn't make sense. We wasn't here to harm nobody. We were just asking questions and a man just opened fire. He didn't say stop or freeze. He just led up the street and opened fire on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: The shooting happened at a demonstration for this man, Jamaal Clark. He died in a police-involved shooting November 15th. Protesters want videos of Clark's shooting released.

CHURCH: Police in Europe are on a manhunt for a suspect involved with the November 13th terror attacks. Prosecutors say they think that man, Salah Abdelslam, may have driven attackers to the Stade de France. The hunt for him has stretched to several countries in Western Europe. Sources in France say supporters in Belgium may be helping him avoid capture. BARNETT: French President Francois Hollande is set to meet with

German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming hours. On Tuesday, he was at the White House asking U.S. President Barack Obama to put more pressure on ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've never forgotten how the French people stood with us after 9/11. Today, we stand with you. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

We cannot and we will not succumb to fear. Nor can we allow fear to divide us. That is how terrorists win. We cannot give them the victory of changing how we go about living our lives.

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translation): Against Daesh, we need a joint response. France and the United States stand together to bring that joint response. Militarily, it's about destroying Daesh no matter where they are. It is about taking out their financing, hunting down their leaders, dismantling their networks, and taking back the land they currently control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And things are getting back to normal in the Belgium capital. The transportation company announced the partial reopening of the subways and schools have also reopened in Brussels.

CNN's Alexandra Field is outside one of those schools and joins us now live.

Alexandra, Brussels has been on this virtual lockdown, but is now opening its schools and that has some parents confused and concerned, understandably. Talk to us about that and what people are supposed to make of it.

[02:40:22] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, but the reality is you simply cannot lockdown a city indefinitely. What you can do, however, is deploy any resources you have at your disposal to help make people more safe and to help them feel more safe. So we have been talking to students and parents as they return to work and return to school this morning. Some of us are telling us that they don't feel that they have more answers or a greater sense of security than they did just a couple of days ago when this city went into lockdown. But they do understand the necessity of getting back to life as normal.

What you're seeing around the city this morning is hundreds of military personnel who have been deployed to help secure the metro system. There are hundreds of police officers who are securing the schools and at this school behind me, there are private security guards posted at the doors. We're talking to students who say they are they are returning to the school, but that life is different, that it will feel different. Still, they thought it was important to just begin to try to get back to normal. We also spoke to the director of one school who said this is a fact

life has changed for the students here pep has 2200 students who go to the school behind me. He isn't sure how many will come but they did feel it was important to follow the direction of authorities, to open up the school and provide any safety and security resources that they can at this difficult time.

CHURCH: As you say, this is an effort to get back to normal. There isn't really a sense that any of this danger has subsided, is there?

FIELD: Right. Certainly no feeling that there is a resolution here. And we know that this city remains under the highest level of security. The interior minister said that the threat level will remain at its highest point until Monday, at least. And the operations are still ongoing to try and ferret out any people who could be connected to do terror cell that plotted and carried out the attacks in Paris. To that end, they condition to search for Salah. We know there is an international arrest warrant out for Mohamed Abrini. He was out just two days before the attacks. Belgium authorities say their part in this investigation has netted five arrests of people who are charged with terrorism-related activities in connection with that Paris attack. Yet, they are still, of course, looking for these two men who presume to be armed and certainly dangerous.

CHURCH: Alexandra Field, bringing us a live report outside one of those schools in Brussels, now opening, and in a sense, having to move on, having to move forward, even though the dangers have been subsided.

Many thanks to you, Alexandra.

BARNETT: Meanwhile, in France, families and loved ones are beginning the heartbreaking tasks of laying the victims of the attacks to rest.

CHURCH: Communities are turning out in large numbers to pay their respects and to say a final farewell to those who lost their lives in the attacks.

Jim Bittermann has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BELL TOLLS)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across France, the slow tolling of funeral bells has been going on for days. The scene repeated again and again, grieving parents, grieving lovers, grieving neighbors.

The stories are heart rending. Marian and Anna, two sisters who hadn't seen each other for a while, decided to meet up for a Friday night in Paris. At 8:00, their mother sent them a text. "I love you both," she said. "We do, too, little mother of love," they responded. An hour and a half later, they were dead.

The mostly young victims of the attacks makes the morning especially hard. Lives of promise ended far too early.

And the victims seem to come from all over the country and all walks of life.

Near Bordeaux, the funeral was for Alvin Denwe (ph), a young professor. His students turned up at his funeral. The school says it will replace him, but the students say he is irreplaceable.

The cardinal archbishop of Leon turned out for the funeral of 24-year- old Carolina Perna (ph). Her godfather gave one of the eulogies. "That 13th of November, he said, independence came across monstrosity. Terror struck sweetness. What option did Caroline have in the face of such atrocity? None."

On and on, the funerals have gone. 130 must be mourned. All of France is paying its last respects.

"We're all brothers now," a priest said at one memorial. "Brothers united in suffering. A country that celebrates the joy of life is just now submerged on the unbearable sadness of death."

(BELL TOLLS)

BITTERMANN: Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:47:19] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam with quick look at your "Weather Watch."

(WEATHER REPORT)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Barack Obama is backing Turkey and its downing a Russian war plane. Mr. Obama spoke with his Turkish counterpart by phone, expressing U.S. and NATO support for Ankara.

BARNETT: While acknowledging Washington doesn't have all the information just yet, Mr. Obama said Turkey has the right to defend its country and its air space.

Earlier, I spoke with Cedric Leighton, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, about how this incident affects the Syrian conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:49:38] CEDRIC LEIGHTON, FORMER MEMBER, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The whole idea of what they call air space de-confliction is really coming to the forefront now and for the lay person, the very important aspect of this is to make sure that planes, first of all, don't bump into each other but also that they don't get shot down. So now we have a situation where, with the Russian SU-24 being shot down, because it violated Turkish air space, that shows that there was really no means of notifying the Russian pilots or they chose to ignore the notifications that the Turks said they gave them. Either way, it becomes a dangerous environment for all of the people that are flying in this area, all the different coalition partners as well as, quite frankly, the Russians into Syrians. But it also shows the fact that we need to have this mechanism of control of air space de- confliction, which would then be a mechanism to show that we have a means of military control for an effort against ISIS to make sure that we're actually prosecuting that war effort. We don't have that right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is David Rohde. He is a CNN global affairs analyst and an investigative reporter with Reuters.

Thank you, sir, for being with us.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, as we know, is warning of serious consequences in the wake of the shooting down of that Russian plane by Turkey. What does he likely mean by that? How might he respond, do you think? And how might this escalate in an already volatile region?

DAVID ROHDE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the most dangerous thing would be another provocation by Russian jets. This is not something new in terms of what's happening in Turkey. There's been dozens of incidents, most of them in Europe, where Russian planes have moved into air space and NATO jets have scrambled to meet them. But this is the first time NATO jets have shot down a Russian plane whatsoever. So he can push it on the ground in Syria. I think that's less likely. I think he will -- maybe he could expand the Russian military presence, maybe the number of planes in Syria by backing the Turkish president. And then I think in the long-term, there's a lot of economic ties between Russia and Turkey, particularly the energy front. So he could, I think, create economic problems, energy problems, gas price problems for Turkey in the long-term as a way to punish Turkey for what happened today.

CHURCH: And interestingly, President Putin insists the downed plane had been targeting is. But there's no evidence of that, given where that plane was located. What was that Russian plane doing before it was shot down?

ROHDE: That's a great question and the area where it was shot down, a lot of the population are ethnic Turkmans, they're essentially people of Turkey, and there were reports that the Russian plane was attacking them. They are not members of ISIS. The Turkman communities there are not at all members of ISIS. So, again, it's a provocation. If you believe the Turkish version of events that the Russian plane would be attacking ethnic Turkman villages, that's going to lead Turkey to feel the need to respond. I think he plays a long game. He's very good at pushing the boundaries and stepping back and waiting for his opponents to pay less attention. So I would be surprised if he escalates immediately, but it's a very, very dangerous game he's playing.

CHURCH: And we're watching it very closely.

David Rohde, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

ROHDE: Thank you.

CHURCH: And this is one of the top stories on our site right now. There is more analysis and updated information on the down war plane and what it could mean for the overall conflict. That's all at CNN.com.

BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama honored 17 Americans on Tuesday with the Medal of Freedom. The prestigious honor was given to Hollywood and sports legends, civil rights activists and many of the pioneers in their field. The list includes Director Steven Spielberg, Musicians Barbra Streisand and James Taylor, and baseball greats Willie Mays and the late Yogi Berra.

Take a listen to how Mr. Obama honored some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we celebrate some extraordinary people, innovators, artists and leaders, who contribute to America's strength as a nation.

Born in Brooklyn to a middle-class Jewish family -- I didn't know you were Jewish, Barbra.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm proud to call the next honoree a friend as well. The truth is a lot of people say that about James Taylor. That's what happens when you tell four decades telling people "Just call out my name --

(LAUGHTER)

-- and I'll come running."

(LAUGHTER)

In his career, Steven has introduced us to extra terrestrials, rogue archaeologists, killer sharks. He's taken us to Neverland, Jurassic Park, but also the beaches of Normandy and Nazi concentration camps. Despite redefining the word "prolific," a Spielberg movie is still a Spielberg movie. Somebody is calling to see if they can book him for a deal right now.

(LAUGHTER)

They want to make a pitch.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

[02:55:23] CHURCH: He's quick.

BARNETT: The comedian-in-chief there.

We want to quickly say congratulations to the NBA's Golden State Warriors. They made history by beating the L.A. Lakers for their 16th victory.

CHURCH: The reigning world champions are the first team ever in the NBA to start the season with 16 consecutive wins. The final score, Warriors, 111, Lakers, 77.

BARNETT: Amazing.

CHURCH: And we are back in just a few minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM. We will have all the top stories from around the world.

BARNETT: And remember, you can always connect with us on social media anytime. Tell us from where you're watching in the world right now. We would love to know.

See you in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:07] BARNETT: A downed fighter jet. Now Russia responds.